5 Major Issues Sony Must Fix on the PS4

The PS4 has very well proved to be the golden goose that Sony was hoping to produce for years. It’s been almost a fairy tale start for the console, becoming the most successful launch in history, selling over 4.2 million units worldwide within one month of its launch.

However, all that glitters isn’t gold, at least not yet, the PlayStation 4 is one powerful system, make no mistake about it, but it still is rough around the edges, with some minor to some not so minor hiccups in the end user experience.

PlayStation Gang tells you five things Sony should fix on the console via a new firmware update and fix them quickly before it becomes a major issue.

1) Pausing and Queuing Downloads

The single most major deterrent in the PlayStation 4 console has been the appalling lack of the ability to pause or queue downloads. This results in wastage of bandwidth as the console tries to download multiple files at once, delaying the time required to update by a huge margin. Not only that, the inability to pause downloads means that a simple hurdle as a power cut and internet disconnection can often result in the download being reset or getting corrupted, forcing you to start afresh.

Not everyone has unlimited time and bandwidth and this is a major issue for most of us. Also, while downloading big PS4 games in the background it’s next to impossible to play online so the inability to pause downloads actually can be quite annoying for someone such as me who works all day and kicks up his PS4 at night, only to find himself with the difficult choice of either completing a download in progress first OR play the game and delete the downloading file, forcing me to start afresh at a later time. Not a pretty sight I can assure you. We hope that Sony patches this major flaw before the peak gaming session kicks off this year.

2) Dynamic Themes

Let’s be honest, everyone wants their PS4 to look and feel homely and to one’s own taste. Having the option to customize the look of your console can be a major turn on for most, including me. The lack of such a feature, which the PS3 enjoyed is really beyond me. I get it that Sony might include it via a firmware update in future but this is something which should have been there from the start. We do hope Sony sorts this out and sorts this out fast.

3) No YouTube Support

Well, the PS4 console’s one of the biggest selling points has been the ability to share content at the click of a button, literally from the device, allowing players to share video clips and screenshots on the go. However, this currently is limited to being able to upload only to one’s Facebook profile. I mean, come the fuck on, what’s the point of the button and the sharing gimmick if I’m unable to upload the content to popular video uploading sites such as YouTube, where it makes sense to do so. We hope Sony takes note of this and introduces YouTube support in the not so distant future.

4) MP3, Video, USB Support

I was shocked to find out that my PS4 wasn’t able to play basic MP3 CDs or files which I wanted to play via a USB device on the PS4. I quite frankly panicked as I thought that it was a isolated issue and my PS4 might be broken. But no, to my utter shock, I found out that the PS4 currently isn’t able to play MP3 and audio files or CDs. Well, for a company which makes millions producing and promoting music related products and content, this is just unacceptable. We hope Sony’ reading this and ordering their engineers to come up with a quick firmware update to fix this issue.

5) DualShock 4 Battery Back up

I get it, this is something which might not be possible to fix anytime soon but I feel I must put it out there. My DualShock 4 controller gives a maximum play time of around 6.5 hours. The DS3 on the other hand used to give around 22 hours without breaking a sweat. Well, what just happened here? I know the new controller is bigger and feels much more comfortable to play with and has this fancy multi-color imiting bar in the middle of it. But still, I honestly find it annoying having to charge it every 6 hours or so.

I wish it at least gave a battery back up of around 15 hours, taking into account how much better it is compared to its predecessor, but the current numbers aren’t really impressive. I do hope they make a new model with better battery backup. Hope floats right?

Make no mistake, I am a huge Sony fan and own a website which has “PLAYSTATION” in its domain name, however I am not afraid to point out what’s just wrong. I just want Sony to improve what is already the most powerful console available to mankind at the moment. However, the lack of these features (at least the first four) does make it feel like something is ‘missing’. With one of the biggest gaming line ups scheduled for 2014, we do hope Sony sorts these issues out before any of the major gaming titles hits the market.

Have you found any other issues with your PS4 experience which I might have skipped, make sure you let us know in the comments below so we all can know about them.